Al-Safa

The field contains at least 38 cinder cones and forms part of the northern section of the alkaline Harrat al-Sham volcanic field, which according to German Wikipedia covers about 50,000 km² across Syria, Jordan, Israel/Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Arabic Wikipedia describes a roughly circular area 16 to 19 km across, bordered by the Syrian Desert to the north, the Hamad to the south and the al-Kura' area to the south-west.

Several vents were active during the Holocene. A boiling lava lake was observed in the middle of the 19th century – Arabic Wikipedia gives 1850 – and particularly dark areas in the centre are thought to mark this latest activity. A study published in 2002 identified Tulul al-Safa as the youngest of 13 lava flows in southern Syria, northern Palestine and eastern Lebanon. The highest cones include Tell el-Aqzass (889 m), Tell ed-Ders (878 m) and Jabal Rgheli (874 m).[1][2][3]

In 1857 inscriptions in a previously unknown script were discovered here; the script was named Safaitic after the area, although it is now attested elsewhere too. Arabic Wikipedia counts more than 2,000 known Safaitic inscriptions and, following some historians, attributes them to groups of the Lakhmids. Nearby are sites from the 4th millennium BCE, among them Khirbet al-Umbashi and Khirbet al-Habbariyah, and the site of Jabal Sis.

The Druze used the area as a refuge in times of war. During the civil war al-Safa became the last pocket of ISIL in Suwayda and Rif Dimashq governorates; government forces took control of it on 17 November 2018.[1][3]

The area lies entirely within Suwayda Governorate, whose border follows its edge. It is sparsely populated; according to English Wikipedia only roaming Bedouin and occasional archaeologists visit it. Arabic Wikipedia mentions plans to designate Tulul al-Safa a geopark as a natural extension of the Lajat reserve.[1][2][3]